Motherboard

Sometimes abbreviated as ‘mobo’, a motherboard is basically the main circuit board of a computer. On Apple computers, a motherboard is known as the logic board. It contains various connectors for attaching additional boards. Generally, a motherboard contains the CPU, memory, mass storage interfaces or Storage Controller Problems, BIOS, serial and parallel ports, expansion slots, and all the controllers required to control standard peripheral devices like the display screen, keyboard & disk drive. Cumulatively all the various chips that reside on the motherboard are known as the motherboard's chipset.

The motherboards available today usually include:

• Slots or sockets in which one or more microprocessors are installed
• Slots into which the system's main memory is installed as DIMM modules containing dynamic RAM chips
• Chipset which forms an interface between the CPU's main memory, front-side bus, & peripheral buses
• Non-volatile memory chips like the Flash ROM containing the system's BIOS or firmware
• Clock generator which emits system clock signal to synchronize the various components slots for expansion cards
• Power connectors flickers that accept electrical power from the computer power supply and distribute it to the CPU, main memory, chipset and expansion cards

The majority of motherboards available today are designed for IBM-compatible computers, which currently account for around 90% of global personal computer sales. Memory chips can be directly added to the motherboard on most of the computers. An upgrade to a faster PC is possible by replacing the CPU chip. However, in order to make available additional core features, the motherboard itself needs to be replaced entirely.

Motherboards if not properly cooled can led to crashes. One important reason why they are normally air cooled with heat sinks often mounted on larger chips, such as the northbridge, in most motherboards.